The Friendship Cure is a non-fiction book which considers the role of friendships in our lives.

Kate Leaver is a renowned journalist. Her research has considered many types of friendships, from those which form in our early years, teenage friends, workplace friends, casual acquaintances, social media friendships, toxic friends and those all important life-long friends. Leaver has used scientific findings and her own experiences, as well as results from interviewing members of the public.

The book packs in a lot of material. As with much non-fiction writing, some parts were of more personal interest than others. I liked the section about using social media to make new friendships by creating the opportunities to meet face-to-face. I also liked the piece on workplace friendships, including work-wives and work-husbands and how these are beneficial to both employees and employers. It made me think of several examples of unhappy competitive businesses where office politics make the environment an unhappy space.

Another interesting topic was the one about loneliness and how some people think it could be the next great public health epidemic. Leaver writes that becoming socially isolated might be as dangerous as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day, particularly as we age and our circle of friends diminishes. This one linked well to the piece on mental health and how important friendship can be, in recovery, for anyone suffering from any form of health imbalance.

There’s a lovely part about how companionship can be linked to longevity. A small town in Sardinia is, apparently, the only place in the world where the men live as long as the women. There are more than six times the amount of centenarians living there than in mainland Italy. Through a system of social integration these centenarians are looked after by multiple layers of loving, caring family and friends.

It did take me a while to get through this book, but several chapters made me think about my own friendships and how I might maintain those relationships as I grow older. This is the type of book which could be an ideal gift to the right sort of friend in your own life.

Our best friends, gal-pals, bromances, Twitter followers, Facebook friends, long distance buddies and WhatsApp threads define us in ways we rarely openly acknowledge. There is so much about friendship we either don’t know or don’t articulate: why do some friendships last a lifetime, while others are only temporary? How do you ‘break up’ with a toxic friend? Can men and women really be platonic? And maybe the most important question: how can we live in the most interconnected age and still find ourselves stuck in the greatest loneliness epidemic of our time? It’s killing us, making us miserable and causing a public health crisis. What if meaningful friendships are the solution, not a distraction?

Kate Leaver’s much anticipated manifesto argues that friendship can cure the modern malaise of solitude, ignorance, ill health and angst. She looks at what friendship means, how it can survive, why we need it and what we can do to get the most from it. From behavioural scientists to best mates, Kate finds extraordinary stories and research, drawing on her own experiences to create a fascinating blend of accessible ‘smart thinking’, investigative journalism, pop culture and memoir.

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The Friendship Cure by Kate Leaver (Currently reading – non-fction) Book due out March 19th

A compelling, fresh and thought-provoking exploration of friendship – what it is, how to keep it, and why we need it more than ever before.

Friendship is like water. We need it to survive, we crave it when it’s scarce, it runs through our veins and yet we forget its value simply because it’s always available. The basic compulsion to make friends is in our DNA; we’ve evolved, chimp-like, to seek out connection with other human beings. We move through life in packs and friendship circles and yet we are stuck in the greatest loneliness epidemic of our time. It’s killing us, making us miserable and causing a public health crisis. But what if friendship is the solution, not the distraction?

Journalist Kate Leaver believes that friendship is the essential cure for the modern malaise of solitude, ignorance, ill health and angst. If we only treated camaraderie as a social priority, it could affect everything from our physical health and emotional well-being to our capacity to find a home, keep a job, get married, stay married, succeed, feed and understand ourselves.

In this witty, smart book – an appealing blend of science, pop culture and memoir – she meets scientists, speaks to old friends, finds extraordinary stories and uncovers research to look at what friendship is, how it feels, where it can survive, why we need it and what we can do to get the most from it – and how we might change the world if we value it properly. AmazonUK | AmazonUS

Let Me Be Like Water by S.K. Perry – contemporary (Just finished book due out May 2018)

Holly moved to Brighton to escape her grief over the death of her boyfriend, Sam. But now she is here, sitting on a bench, listening to the sea sway… what is supposed to happen next?

She had thought she d want to be on her own. Wrecked. Stranded. But after she meets Frank, the tide begins to shift. Frank, a retired magician who has experienced his own loss but manages to be there for everyone else. Gradually, as he introduces Holly to a circle of new friends, young and old, all with their own stories of love and grief to share, she begins to learn to live again.

A moving and powerful debut which combines the emotional pull of Maggie O’Farrell with the lyrical beauty of Sarah Perry, Let Me Be Like Water is a book simultaneously about nothing and everything: about the humdrum yet extraordinariness of everyday life; of lost and new connections; of loneliness and friendship. AmazonUK | AmazonUS

Crushing On Love by Melissa Foster – Romance (Reading Next)

In CRUSHING ON LOVE…
Steve Johnson is living his life’s passion watching over the Colorado Mountains as a ranger and wildlife consultant. But his peaceful life is upended when overzealous and insanely beautiful Shannon Braden flits back into his life after returning from a brief trip home to Maryland. He thought his attraction to her was under control–after all, she’s only in Colorado temporarily, and he doesn’t do casual affairs.

Shannon’s return to Colorado has as much to do with the game of cat and mouse she and Steve have been playing as it does the data she’s been hired to collect. But despite her efforts to explore the undeniable heat simmering between them, Steve’s intent on keeping his distance.

When a ranch abutting the national park goes up for sale, Steve will do whatever it takes to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. And when all his attempts fail, he’s left with no alternative but to follow Shannon’s guidance into the online world he abhors in order to raise the funds. The more time they spend together, the deeper their attraction becomes, and a game of cat and mouse turns into an unstoppable connection. But when Shannon’s assignment comes to an end, will it mean an end to them, too? AmazonUk | AmazonUS